Fish contain high quality protein and other essential nutrients making it an important part of a healthy diet. A variety of fish included in a well-balanced diet may contribute to overall heart health and aid in children's proper growth and development. However, it is important to handle seafood with care to reduce the risk of foodborne illness. Often, this is called food poisoning, which is often caused by consuming food contaminated with bacteria, viruses, parasites, or toxins. Symptoms can include diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, malaise, and fever.
Often, the first preventive measure is to buy fresh fish that is refrigerated or displayed on a thick bed of fresh ice that is not melting. Generally, some indicators of freshness include: a fish should smell fresh and mild, not fishy, sour, or ammonia-like; a fish's eye should be clear and bulge a little; a fish should have firm shiny flesh and bright red gills free from milky slime; and the flesh should spring back when pressed. However, these indicators provide circumstantial evidence of a piece of seafood being past their prime. Therefore, there requires a need for a method that allows a user to accurately determine the freshness of a piece of seafood.
Devices and methods have been disclosed in the prior art that relate to testing for various compounds related to food spoilage. Test strips specifically for testing for ammonia are known in the prior art. However, the prior art does not provide a method that determines expected shelf life of seafood comprising a step of referencing a chart to cross reference the concentration of ammonia detected with the storage temperature to determine an expected shelf life.
The present invention provides a method of determining expected shelf life of seafood. The method comprises a step of placing a test strip against a piece of seafood, wherein the test strip includes an indicating pad having a pH indicator that is configured to responsively and discriminatingly change color in presence of contact with ammonia. The method further comprises a step of ascertaining concentration on a parts per million level of ammonia by comparing color of the pH indicator to a comparative chart, wherein the comparative chart includes a gradient of color intensity that substantially indicates the concentration of ammonia. Furthermore, the method comprises a step of referencing a booklet having a plurality of charts to cross reference the concentration of ammonia detected by the test strip with the storage temperature to determine an expected shelf life for a piece of seafood.
It is therefore submitted that the present invention is substantially divergent in design elements from the prior art, and consequently it is clear that there is a need in the art for an improvement to a method that allows a user to accurately determine the freshness of a piece of seafood. In this regard, the instant invention substantially fulfills these needs.